Reducing environmental impact is one of the key reasons that brands choose to build virtual stores. Likewise, sustainability is of the utmost importance to Obsess—in terms of how we function day-to-day as a company, and how we choose our partners and providers for our virtual stores.
To raise awareness around sustainable retail practices, and provide more robust transparency around virtual store carbon emissions, Obsess created a Carbon Emissions Calculator for Retail Stores. This free, public tool analyzes the energy output of brick-and-mortar retail stores, in comparison to virtual retail stores.
Learn how the Obsess platform supports a sustainable future:
1) Minimizing Waste and Carbon Emissions
The Obsess virtual store platform enables brands to create immersive selling environments that can be optimized, decorated, and staffed using fewer resources than traditional physical retail.
- Every Obsess virtual store can be accessed via web browser. This means that consumers do not need to travel to access physical shopping locations, reducing their carbon footprint from transportation.
- Store owners and managers do not need to transport physical goods into their retail locations when they supplement a virtual store for a physical one. Retailers use our proprietary virtual merchandising tool to showcase digital product imagery in virtual stores on an ongoing, dynamic basis.
- Key virtual store platform features like quizzes and virtual try-ons allow consumers to better match products to their individual needs and styling. Better product matching leads to fewer returns—thus reducing any back-and-forth of items in transit, and ultimately mitigating excess carbon emissions.
- Obsess retail partners are able to test demand for product inventory through virtual selling, leading to lower waste and better stock estimates at their physical store locations.
2) Increasing Transparency
Our technology empowers brands to increase visibility and engagement for their already-impactful content. The Obsess platform is 100% customizable, so brands can showcase sustainability messaging and visuals in a hyper-engaging, memorable context.
The Carbon Emissions Calculator for Retail Stores compares the energy output of brick-and-mortar retail stores, in comparison to virtual retail stores. If a retail or brand team is evaluating construction for a new physical store location, they use this tool to assess its potential carbon impact—and compare it to the impact of a virtual store alternative.
3) Efficient Energy Usage
As a fully managed SaaS (Software as a Service) platform, Obsess relies on a technology infrastructure that can support top-tier web performance, without compromising environmental impact.
- Web hosting for Obsess virtual stores:
- Our primary hosting provider is 3.6X more energy efficient than other hosting providers in the US, and 5X more energy efficient than other hosting providers in Europe. It is on track to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2025.
- Our provider is heavily invested in sustainable innovation—from the chip designs of their servers, to the cooling systems for their data centers. Their latest chips use up to 60% less energy, and their latest cooling technology uses 20% less energy.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN) for Obsess virtual stores:
- Our primary global Content Delivery Network (CDN) provider has committed to powering its network of servers with 100% renewable energy and offsetting or removing all historical emissions associated with powering its network by 2025.
4) Daily Sustainable Practices
The full Obsess team is devoted to making positive choices that support a sustainable mission, particularly in our offices.
- 88% of all Obsess employees commute into an office via either public transit or walking. The majority of remaining employees work from home and do not require transportation at all.
- Our New York-based headquarters has eliminated the use of single-use plastics.
- The office provider for our New York-based headquarters will be carbon neutral in 2023. It is 2.5X more energy efficient than a typical office.
Obsess is committed to a sustainable future. To learn more about how virtual stores and the metaverse can help the retail industry with sustainability, check out this post.